Fixed Premium Auction for RFNBO and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen production

The Innovation Fund 2025 Auction for Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) and electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen production seeks to promote the transition towards renewable hydrogen as a climate-neutral fuel for hard-to-decarbonize sectors. This initiative, operating as an output-based competitive auction, offers approximately €1.1 billion across three funding topics: general RFNBO, general low-carbon hydrogen solutions, and specifically for maritime applications. Eligible applicants include any organizations in the European Economic Area (EEA) capable of establishing new hydrogen production capacity. The grant is a fixed premium auction unit grant, meaning financial support is allocated based on verified production output rather than upfront capital investment. Payments are made in euros per kilogram of hydrogen produced for up to ten years, contingent upon meeting specific production targets. The application process is a single-stage auction, with submissions open from December 4, 2025, to February 19, 2026. Applicants must provide comprehensive proposals, including feasibility studies and financial plans, demonstrating their technical and financial abilities. The auction uses a competitive bidding method where producers submit their bid price per kilogram of hydrogen, which determines the award structure. Successful projects must demonstrate a commitment to financial closure within 2.5 years of the grant agreement and begin production within five years. The auction aims to attract a variety of renewable hydrogen projects, supporting a transition in sectors like heavy-duty transport, energy-intensive industries, and maritime applications, thereby advancing the European Union's climate goals. The success rate from previous auctions reveals a highly competitive environment, with about 10-39% of submissions receiving funding. While there is no formal co-funding requirement, projects must secure private capital to cover costs not met by the grants, effectively leveraging public investment to stimulate the hydrogen sector. Overall, this call for proposals serves as a crucial financial mechanism to establish and scale up hydrogen production facilities across the EEA, aligning with broader objectives to enhance energy independence and combat climate change.

The EU Funding & Tenders Portal presents a call for proposals under the Innovation Fund (INNOVFUND) program, specifically the Innovation Fund 2025 Auction Hydrogen (INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2). The type of action is INNOVFUND Fixed Premium Auction Unit Grants (INNOVFUND-FPAUC-UN), and the Model Grant Agreement (MGA) type is INNOVFUND Unit Grant [INNOVFUND-AG-UN].

The call is open for submission as of December 4, 2025, with a deadline of February 19, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. It is a single-stage submission model.

The submission session is available for three topics:INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2-RFNBO-GENERAL, INNOVFUND, and INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2-RFNBOLOWCARB-MAR-AVI.

The conditions for this call are as follows:

1. Admissibility Conditions:Proposal page limit and layout are described in Section 5 of the call document.

2. Eligible Countries are described in section 6 of the call document.

3. Other Eligible Conditions are described in section 6 of the call document.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in section 7 of the call document.

5a. Evaluation and award:Submission and evaluation processes are described in sections 8 and 11 of the call document.

€5B. Evaluation and award:Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in sections 8 and 9 of the call document.

5c. Evaluation and award:The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in section 4 of the call document.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document includes the following:

Call document

Application form templates for information only; for submission, use the forms provided inside the Submission System (under "Part B templates")

Application form the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System (under "Part B templates")

Calculator ("Financial information file" with the bid)

Completion guarantee letter of intent

Feasibility study

Participant information

Timetable/Gantt chart

Extended Part C form (for statistical data collection) available in the Submission System (under "Part B templates")

Completion guarantee for information only at submission stage; it will be requested only for projects invited to grant preparation

Model Grant Agreements (MGA)

INNOVFUND Unit MGA

The legal framework and additional documents are as follows:

Legal framework:

Legal basis for this call for proposals:Decision C(2025)7674 and Annex

Decision on unit contributions for the Innovation Fund

INNOVFUND Legal Framework

INNOVFUND Regulation 2019/856

ETS Directive 2003/87

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Additional documents:

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

The budget overview for the call is as follows:

Topic:INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2-RFNBO-GENERAL INNOVFUND Fixed Premium Auction Unit Grants, INNOVFUND INNOVFUND Fixed Premium Auction Unit Grants, INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2-RFNBOLOWCARB-MAR-AVI INNOVFUND Fixed Premium Auction Unit Grants

Budget (EUR) - Year:2025

Stages:Single-stage

Opening date:2025-12-04

Deadline:2026-02-19

Contributions:1 100 000 000

Indicative number of grants:1

To start the submission process, applicants must access the Electronic Submission Service by clicking the submission button next to the relevant type of action and model grant agreement. Applicants are advised to carefully read all provisions before preparing their application.

For help related to this call, applicants can use the following support services:

InnovFund helpdesk for questions specifically related to the call documentation, application, and evaluation process.

IT Helpdesk for questions regarding forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, and technical aspects of proposal submission.

Online Manual for a step-by-step guide through the Portal processes.

The Innovation Fund 2025 Auction Hydrogen call aims to support projects focused on the production of Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen. The call operates through a fixed premium auction mechanism, providing unit grants to selected projects. With a substantial budget of €1.1 billion, the call seeks to foster innovation and deployment of hydrogen technologies across various sectors, including general applications, low-carbon solutions, and maritime and aviation applications. Applicants should consult the detailed call documentation and legal framework to ensure compliance with eligibility criteria and submission requirements. The Funding & Tenders Portal provides access to all necessary documents and support services to guide applicants through the process.

Eligible Applicant Types:The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. Further review of the call documentation, specifically section 6, would be needed to determine the eligible applicant types.

Funding Type:The funding type is a grant, specifically an INNOVFUND Fixed Premium Auction Unit Grant (INNOVFUND-FPAUC-UN) and INNOVFUND Unit Grant [INNOVFUND-AG-UN].

Consortium Requirement:The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. Further details would be found in the call documents.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):The eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document. The specific geographic eligibility is not provided in the scraped content.

Target Sector:The program targets the hydrogen sector, specifically renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen production. It also mentions low-carbon for maritime and aviation (MAR-AVI).

Mentioned Countries:No specific countries are mentioned in the provided text.

Project Stage:The project stage is not explicitly mentioned, but the requirement of a feasibility study suggests that the projects should be at least in the development or validation stage.

Funding Amount:The total budget for the call is €1,100,000,000. The contribution per project is variable and depends on the auction results.

Application Type:The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support:Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant.

Application Stages:The application process consists of a single stage.

Success Rates:The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement:The text does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Innovation Fund (INNOVFUND) 2025 Auction, specifically targeting hydrogen production. The call, INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2, focuses on renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and/or electrolytic low-carbon hydrogen production. There are three specific topics: INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2-RFNBO-GENERAL, INNOVFUND, and INNOVFUND-2025-AUC-H2-RFNBOLOWCARB-MAR-AVI (maritime and aviation). The total budget is €1.1 billion. The funding mechanism is a fixed premium auction unit grant. The application process is a single-stage submission, with the deadline on February 19, 2026. Applicants must submit their proposals electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal. The call documents provide detailed information on admissibility conditions, eligible countries, evaluation and award processes, and the legal and financial setup of the grants. Applicants should consult the INNOVFUND helpdesk and IT helpdesk for support. The legal basis for this call is Decision C(2025)7674 and Annex. Required documents include an application form, calculator, completion guarantee letter of intent, feasibility study, participant information, timetable/Gantt chart, and an extended Part C form.